FLINT TWP, MI -- Bob Holec wants to see the youth baseball environment in Flint and Genesee County return to what it was when he was growing up in the city. So do Roger Foutch, Duncan Beagle, Jeff Hamilton, Walt Head and several others who were at a Flint Area Chamber of Commerce meeting Monday, Jan. 23, at Foutch’s Pub in Flint Township where baseball was the only topic.

Holec is president of the Greater Flint Area Baseball-Softball Association and led a town hall meeting kind of discussion along with Flint Area Chamber of Commerce President Mike Killbreath and others outlining a plan to revitalize youth baseball and the Connie Mack program in Flint.

The plan revolves around the soon-to-be opened Foutch’s Strike Zone baseball training facility at West Pointe Plaza in Flint Township and a youth baseball leadership team. Efforts are also in the works to create a Genesee County Connie Mack League team, which will be coached by former Major League Baseball players Jeff Hamilton and Brandon Reed, both of them Flint natives.

“I remember when I was hired to coach (at Flint Central) and I would drive by a baseball field and there were always kids playing on the fields all over the city,” Holec said. “They were always out there. Now, you don’t see that anymore. Why not? That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out and what we’re trying to change.”

Holec oversees the Flint City Baseball League, which finished its 105th season last summer, as well as a 40-and-over baseball league in Flint, a softball program and now this new venture to bolster youth participation in the area.

“We talk about the baseball tradition around here and we have a lot of it,” Killbreath said. “Then you look at the facilities we still have with Mott, Whaley and Broome Park, I think we have the best facilities in Michigan for baseball except for maybe Battle Creek (where the MHSAA state baseball and softball championships are held). On top of that, we have some really dedicated people with Roger (Foutch), Bob, Judge Beagle and now Jeff Hamilton and Brandon Reed who want to help. I really don’t see a reason why we can’t be successful in reviving baseball in this community, and a strong Connie Mack program is a big part of that.”

The Connie Mack League is a nationwide 18 & Under baseball organization that at one time had strong footing in Flint. Walt Head, a Flint native and the head baseball coach at Saginaw Valley State University, managed a Connie Mack team in 1974 that won the league’s World Series in Farmington, New Mexico. In 1981, a team led by Hamilton and fellow former big leaguer Jim Abbott lost in the championship game.

According to Killbreath, the city’s youth baseball program in the '70s had 6,500 registered players at its peak but has been under 3,000 a year in the past decade, and the Connie Mack program has not been competitive since 2000.

“This area has produced a lot of great baseball players and now one of the goals is to try and get that organized, get everybody together to keep the game going strong here,” said Head, who lives in Montrose. “I’m so excited to hear about this effort to revive Connie Mack because Flint was a great baseball town for so many years, and getting all the local talent on one team will produce a competitive team. There’s still enough talent here to have a team be competitive nationally, in my opinion.”

Beagle, a Genesee County circuit judge, is a board member of the Greater Flint Area Baseball-Softball Association and has become more involved in promoting youth baseball because he sees it as an asset the community is missing.

“As a judge, especially dealing a lot with juveniles, I’m always looking for positive activities that young people can get involved in,” Beagle said. “I think baseball is a great avenue for that. What we’ve got to do is address why youth baseball is not more popular… If it’s going to work, it needs the leadership of the key people we have here. Roger Foutch is a baseball guru in Michigan, as a coach, player, ambassador and all that. When you’ve got him and Bob (Holec) and then former big leaguers in Jeff Hamilton and Brandon Reed, it’s got credibility. These people know what they’re doing. It’s just a matter of getting some of these kids off their you-know-what and participating in something positive like this.”

The cost of playing, particularly in summer leagues, is a growing detriment for youth baseball participation. This program is sponsored by Foutch and both the Connie Mack team. The Strike Zone facility -- expected to be open within three weeks -- will be largely fundraiser-driven. A golf scramble fundraiser is set for Saturday at Briar Ridge Golf Course in Montrose and others are planned as a means of reducing and potentially eliminating the financial strain on parents looking to get their children into baseball.

“I think our kids are getting sick and tired of traveling to Oakland County in the summer to play baseball and I think their parents are getting sick and tired of paying between $5,000 and $7,000 a summer with entry fees, travel fees and all that,” Foutch said. “That’s hurting the participation and we recognized that as an obstacle. We will not make money off this, and that’s OK. We’re going to start a program that operates for the right reasons and that’s for the love of the game.”

Contact Ross at rmaghiel@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter @Maghielse.